From the Editor

Believe it or not: 2016 is upon is. After a year full of changes, and a month full of celebrating the holidays,
it’s back to business as usual for many throughout the mortgage industry.

Of course, business as usual is a relative term when it comes to housing ;nance. As the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau continues to enforce new regulations and crack down on
marketing-services agreements, as interest rates are expected to climb and as the industry
shifts to an increasingly electronic way of closing mortgages, what we consider to be normal now will likely be drastically di;erent come January 2017.

The number of changes that occur through a year can be staggering. On a personal note,

12 months ago my wife and I were expecting our ;rst child, still ;nishing moving into our
;rst house and I was working for an Internet startup. Now, our beautiful daughter continues
to grow and amaze us on a daily basis, our house actually feels like our home, and I’ve been
fortunate enough to work for Scotsman Guide for nearly a year.

Many of you likely have signi;cant personal changes that have taken place over the past
year — and you certainly have experienced some changes within that time frame. In this
industry, that’s a given.

The biggest change last year throughout the mortgage industry was arguably the implementation of TRID, the new Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure rule that went into e;ect this past October. Designed to make life easier and
simpler for homebuyers, getting ready for the rule change caused industrywide di;culties.

Now that TRID has been on the books for a few months, this seems like a good time to look back at how it was
implemented, and look forward at what the rule will mean for loan originators and lenders. In our lead story,
ComplianceEase Vice President Michael Chan looks at the di;culties many companies and vendors had with
implementing the rule, as well as the valuable lessons the mortgage industry should take from those challenges. Read “Absorbing the TRID Blows,” beginning on Page 35.

Norcom Mortgage’s Jeremy Potter o;ers some best-practice and vendor-management advice for a post-TRID
world in his article, “TRID is a Game-Changer,” starting on Page 102. And Yanni Raz provides a look at how TRID
could positively impact this month’s focus topic, hard money, with his article on Page 62, “Regulations Bring
Change to Hard Money Deals.”
We’ve got plenty of non-TRID articles and advice this month, as well. On Page 55, Assurance Financial’s Paul M.

Peters o;ers advice to job-seekers on the nine things they should look for from their next company. Barry Hays
(Page 50) and Hunt Gersin (Page 80) take a look at e;ective ways to reach and service the millennial generation.

And on Page 150, our monthly BackSpace feature takes a look at the high cost of closing loans.

As 2016 begins, we at Scotsman Guide hope to continue educating and informing mortgage professionals
across the country, and hopefully bring you several items in each month’s edition that will make you better at
your job. If you believe your expertise could help your fellow loan originators, I invite you to share your wisdom
and submit an article for publication in our magazine. For more information, please feel free to contact me
using the information below.

Welcome to the new year, everyone. Here’s hoping the changes it brings will benefit you, your family and
your career.